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Full Marathon Training Plans

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Advanced Run Marathon Training Plan Week 18

Follow this plan on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with alerts each day to help you complete the program showing routes each day. Learn more about our Advanced Run Marathon Training App.

Week at-a-Glance

Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 18
Sep 23
Sep 23
Run
70 mins
Sep 24
Run+Speed
50 mins
Sep 25
Cross-Training
50 mins
Sep 26
Run
60 mins
Sep 27
Run
40 mins
Sep 28
Run-Endurance
12 miles
Sep 29
Rest Day

Daily Breakdown

Monday - Run
70 mins @ 65-70% heart rate max

Warm up walking 5 minutes at a brisk pace. Run at an easy paced conversational effort for 70 minutes. Finish with walking 5 minutes to cool down.

With a few weeks to go, now is a good time to think about your race day strategy. The single biggest mistake people make is to go out too fast too soon on race day.

There are two successful strategies for pacing on race day. One is to pace evenly throughout the race start to finish. The other (and my personal favorite) is to take the first half of the race a little slower (1-3 minutes) than the second half to conserve energy.

Avoid going out to quickly. It will zap your energy and leave you with lead legs for the finishing miles. The ultimate goal is to look good and strong for that finish line photo!


Tuesday - Run+Speed
50 mins @ 75-85% heart rate max

Warm-up walking 5 minutes at a brisk pace. Run 15 minutes at an easy pace. Run 25 minutes comfortably hard tempo pace at 80-85% heart rate or 8-8.5 on i-Rate Scale. Cool down with 10 minutes easy paced running and 5 minutes walking.


Wednesday - Cross-Training
50 mins @ 60-70% heart rate max

Cross-train with lower impact activities like cycling, swimming, yoga, Pilates, strength training, cardio classes at an easy effort level for 40-50 minutes.

Like life, you'll roll through highs and lows on race day. Expect the lows, enjoy the highs and remember all the training runs that got you there!


Thursday - Run
60 mins @ 65-75% heart rate max

Warm up walking 5 minutes at a brisk pace. Run at an easy paced conversational effort for 60 minutes and include 1 short, 30-60 second pick-up every 10 minutes within the run. Pick up your pace to a fast, challenging pace where you can hear your breathing and it feels just outside your comfort zone. Finish with walking 5 minutes to cool down.


Friday - Run
40 mins @ 65-70% heart rate max

Warm up walking 5 minutes at a brisk pace. Run at an easy paced conversational effort for 40 minutes. Finish with walking 5 minutes to cool down.

Be flexible with what race day brings. You could wake up and have the most incredible race where everything goes right. Or...you can wake up and have a day that challenges you at every turn. It could be unseasonably warm. In which case, everyone will slow down to finish. The key is to get out there and do the best you can on the day.


Saturday - Run-Endurance
12 miles @ 70-75% heart rate max

Warm up walking 5 minutes at a brisk pace. Run 12 miles at an easy effort. Keep your running effort at a comfortable, conversational pace. Finish with walking 5 minutes to cool down.

Over the next few workouts, try to train at the same time that the race starts. It will give you an idea of what to wear and an opportunity to practice all your race day logistics.


Sunday - Rest Day

Rest from activity today and enjoy the day!


Disclaimer

WalkJogRun.net strongly recommends that you consult with your physician before beginning any exercise program. You should understand that when participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge WalkJogRun.net from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of WalkJogRun.net's training program.